The invention relates to a loading device intended for cooperation with an apparatus for recording and/or reproducing signals on/from a record carrier. The device includes a frame and a drawer which is movable in a first movement from a first position in which the record carrier can be placed on a supporting surface of the drawer, to a second position to transfer the record carrier to the apparatus for recording and/or reproducing signals, and in a second movement from the second position to the first position to return the record carrier. The device further includes guide means for guiding the drawer, and an electric motor for moving the drawer between the first and the second position.
The invention further relates to a disc-record player comprising a housing, an apparatus for recording and/or reproducing signals on/from a disc-shaped record carrier which apparatus is arranged in said housing, and a loading device for the record carrier, which apparatus for recording and/or reproducing signals comprises a turntable which is rotatable about an axis of rotation and which comprises a centering mandril and a supporting surface for a record carrier formed with a centre hole, and which loading device comprises a drawer which is movable between a slid-out position and a slid-in position, in which slid-out position the record carrier can be placed on the supporting surface, which drawer can perform an inward movement to transfer the record carrier to the turntable, and can perform an outward movement to return the drawer with the record carrier to the slid-out position.
Disc-record players and loading devices of the types defined in the foregoing are known from European Patent Application 0,149,532. The known disc-record players comprise a housing in which a frame is arranged which carries a loading device and a turntable. The known loading devices comprise a drawer which is movable between an open and a closed position through a front opening in the housing, which drawer comprises a frame and a platform which is movable relative to the frame and which is intended for supporting an optical disc, such as a Compact Disc. The loading devices further comprise means by which the platform is movable relative to the drawer frame and thus in an axial direction relative to the turntable.
In one of the disc record players revealed in European Patent Application 0,149,532 the platform moving means comprise a plurality of pins projecting laterally from the platform and a corresponding number of inclined grooves formed in the drawer frame and engaged by the pins. When the drawer passes the turntable when it is slid inwards the platform is disposed in such a plane that a disc situated on the platform cannot contact the turntable. Towards the end of the inward movement of the drawer the pins of the platform move downwardly in the grooves, causing the frame of the drawer to remain in the same plane and the platform to be moved towards a lower level. In another disc record player the platform moving means comprise four pivotable arms which each have one end pivotally connected to the drawer frame and an other end pivotally connected to the platform. By means of a fixed stop and a tension spring which acts between the platform and the drawer frame, the platform can move relative to the drawer frame between a first and a second level during the rectilinear inward and outward movement of the drawer, the arms being pivoted through a limited angle.
The known disc-record players constitute a rather intricate mechanical assembly because of the necessity to provide a two-part drawer including the frame and a platform which is movable relative thereto. In order to ensure a correct sequence of the movements and a correct positioning of the platform stringent requirements have to be imposed on the mechanisms used, which obviously leads to a higher cost of the loading device and, consequently, of a disc-record player comprising such loading device.
To this end the loading device in accordance with the guide means of the loading device include a supporting body movably supported in the frame and supporting elements for supporting the drawer and the supporting body so as to be movable relative to one another. At least one guide element is secured to the frame and during a first stage of the first movement and a second stage of the second movement cooperates with the drawer to move the drawer in a direction parallel to the supporting surface. At least one stop element is secured to the frame and during a second stage of the first movement and the first stage of the second movement cooperates with a drawer to move the drawer in a direction transverse to the supporting surface.
The loading device in accordance with the invention has the advantage that it can be manufactured from a comparatively small number of simple parts, whilst the simple mechanical construction ensures a correct sequence of the functions performed between the instant at which the record carrier is placed on the drawer and the cooperation of the record carrier with the apparatus for recording and/or reproducing signals. If the electric motor is coupled to a transmission mechanism comprising at least one drive wheel which cooperates with the drawer, a favourable for construction is obtained by securing the electric motor and the transmission mechanism to the supporting body.
The invention also aims at providing a disc record player with the loading device in accordance with the invention. Since the drawer can be of compact construction, only a comparatively small front opening is needed in the housing of the disc record player for the passage of the drawer, which maybe an advantage because it provides additional room for control elements and other elements of the disc record player, such as displays.
A simple to realise and stable support for the supporting body is obtained if the supporting body comprises two side walls which, viewed in a direction related to the first stage of the first movement, are formed with at least two upwardly inclined grooves which are engaged by fixed projections of the frame. For constructional reasons the projections may engage lower end portions of the grooves in the first position of the drawer and engage upper end portions of the grooves in the second position of the drawer. For stability reasons or for reasons of cost it may be desirable to provide the supporting body with a connecting wall interconnecting the two side walls of the supporting body.
A simple-to-realise and stable support for the supporting body is also obtained if the frame comprises two side walls which, viewed in a direction related to the first stage of the first movement, are formed with at least two upwardly inclined grooves which are engaged by projections of the supporting body. The projections may the upper end portions of the grooves in the first position of the drawer and engage the lower end portions of the grooves in the second position of the drawer.
For certain uses it may be desirable to employ the supporting body as a control element for controlling one or more movements of specific parts of the apparatus or arrangement in which the loading device is used. In that case it is favourable if the upper and/or lower end portions of the grooves extend parallel to the supporting surface of the drawer. An example of this is the use of the loading device in accordance with the invention in a disc-record player in accordance with the invention, which player comprises a disc-pressure member whose movement can be derived from the movement of the supporting body.
A simple to realise guidance for the drawer is obtained if the supporting elements arranged on the supporting body comprise rollers which engage slots formed in opposite sides of the drawer. In view of this guidance it is also favourable to provide at least one further guide element in addition to the guide element secured to the frame and to construct the guide elements as rollers which in the first position of the drawer and during the first stage of the first movement and the second stage of the second movement engage slots formed in opposite sides of the drawer. The first-mentioned slots and the last mentioned slots may be the same. In addition to the stop element secured to the frame, a further stop element may be provided, which stop elements are constituted by a first and a second upright wall portion of the frame, the drawer abutting against the first wall portion during the second stage of the first movement and the drawer abutting against the second wall portion during the first stage of the second movement. This step enables the supporting surface of the drawer to be moved normally to the supporting surface during the stages of the drawer movements.
It may be desirable to start the electric motor in the first position of the drawer by exerting a moderate pressure on the drawer. For this purpose a first actuating element may be arranged on the drawer and when the drawer is moved out of the first position, actuates a first switching element, secured to the frame in order to start the electric motor.
An easy-to-operate disc-record player employing a loading device in accordance with the invention has a starting a element arranged on a drawer portion which projects from the housing in the slid-out position of the drawer. The starting element may be actuated via at least a portion of the front wall of the drawer. The starting element may be a mechanical switch, a capacitively operating switching element, or an inductively operating element.
The disc-record player may have a disc-pressure member secured to a pressure element which is movable between a press-down position and a position which more remote from the turntable, is the supporting body being formed with at least one control groove in which a projection of the pressure element is slidable. Without the use of additional drive means this step guarantees a correct operation of the disc pressure member. The control groove may have a groove portion which extends parallel to the supporting surface and a groove portion which is downwardly inclined viewed in a direction related to the inward movement, the pressure element being moved to the press-down position during the inward movement of the drawer and to said other position during the outward movement of the drawer.